Fix Chicken With Safety

May 24, 1990|By Steven Pratt.

Face it. For the time being, salmonella bacteria in chicken is a fact of life. The U.S. Department of Agriculture acknowledges that at least 37 percent of all poultry is contaminated with salmonella when it leaves the processing plants.

Perhaps future changes in the cultivating or processing procedures will alleviate the problem, perhaps the answer will be irradiation, but this weekend when we take out a chicken to grill it or fry it, salmonella will still be with us. So here`s how to deal with it.

Biologists tell us that salmonella bacteria thrive in warm protein-rich environments, and poultry sitting out on the counter is a perfect place for salmonella to multiply. So keep your chicken in the refrigerator until just before you intend to cook it. This includes thawing a frozen chicken. Thaw it in the refrigerator or quickly in the microwave oven, not overnight on the counter.

Thorough cooking will kill any salmonella bacteria-either roasting, grilling, broiling, boiling or frying-but make certain the meat is cooked through (the internal temperature should be at least 180 degrees and the meat should not be pink).

If you are grilling the bird outdoors, do not put the cooked chicken back into the same pan you brought it out in or it could pick up bacteria from the juices in the pan. If you make a sauce from chicken parts or drippings, be sure that you cook it. This especially applies to any marinades in which the raw chicken may have been standing.

The countertop or cutting board you use for preparing an uncooked chicken should be thoroughly scrubbed with soap and hot water before using it for any other food, especially things like salad greens that will not be cooked. Wood counters and cutting boards are particularly good breeding grounds for salmonella bacteria.

Also dispose of the chicken bags and wrappings promptly. Do not re-use them unless you wash them thoroughly with detergent and hot water.

Taking proper precautions goes a long way toward making chicken safe to eat until something better comes along.